A clap of sudden thunder struck down from the sky, lightning spilling everywhere, landing squarely in the center of the Demon-Suppressing Platform. The deafening sound seemed to shake the entire earth, and immediately after, wave after wave of rolling thunder surged out from the clouds, blotting out the sky.
The immortals gathered at a far distance all trembled, their gazes cast towards the figure on the platform, her body tightly bound by chains, filled with both terror and loathing.
“Ha…” The lightning illuminated the person’s face, turning it a ghastly pale, making her already stunning, vivid features suddenly appear terrifying.
“Kunlun… Kunlun…”
First, she murmured lowly, as if sighing. Then, a hoarse laugh clawed its way from her throat, sounding as though she could not stop once she started. Her voice grew louder, increasingly shrill, grating painfully on the eardrums.
“Use the Primordial Great Fire.” The lofty Heavenly Emperor, his face dark with anger, gave the command.
One hundred thousand Celestial Soldiers hidden in the clouds shouted in unison: “Yes!”
Countless bolts of lightning struck down around her, but the figure did not move a single muscle. Her topknot had long been whipped loose by the raging wind. The young, beautiful, and peerless Great Demon’s hair hung loose as she gripped her longsword. Suddenly, she strained fiercely, and a red beam of bloody light shot up from the lotus marking on her forehead, instantly stealing the brilliance of the lightning.
The Heavenly Emperor turned his head, unable to resist closing his eyes.
A trickle of blood dripped down the corner of the Demon King’s lips, yet her eyes seemed to burn with fire as she looked at the surrounding immortals one by one, a terrifying brightness in her gaze.
“A demon is a demon, and will never learn what you call divinity!”
“But you remember this: all the humiliations you have heaped upon me today will one day be repaid. I will point my sword at the Thirty-Third Heaven and make you gods of the Nine Heavens…” She lowered her head and spat out a mouthful of blood. Her long hair flew wildly, whipping against her face like small lashes in the gale. She spoke slowly, grinding out each word: “Pay… blood… with blood!”
Then the red light gradually dimmed. The Great Demon seemed to have exhausted her strength. She leaned on her sword, murmuring: “And Kunlun… I won’t spare a single one of you.”
The great fire finally erupted, blazing into the sky.
Forty thousand years later.
The Heavenly Emperor jolted upright in his bed. In a lingering state of terror, he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. The Curtain-Raising General attending at his side quickly stepped forward and asked, “Your Majesty?”
Gods in heaven do not age. The Heavenly Emperor looked the same as he did all those years ago: young, handsome, indifferent, majestic by nature. No one dared defy him, no one dared question him. He reined in his emotions. His ancient, unruffled gaze swept calmly over the Curtain-Raising General as he said, “Summon Star Lord Du Heng here.”
“Yes.”
Star Lord Du Heng was a very inconspicuous Star Lord in the Heavenly Court. Those ranked above him served in the Court; those below simply could not ascend to immortality at all. The Curtain-Raising General, feeling suspicious yet subservient, went down to summon Star Lord Du Heng.
Why would this high and mighty Heavenly Emperor suddenly think of such an insignificant figure?
Having only just taken office a thousand years ago, he naturally did not know that over these forty thousand years, the Heavenly Emperor had summoned many inconspicuous Star Lords in succession. The first Star Lord summoned thirty-nine thousand years ago, the Sweeping Star Lord, had thought he was about to be promoted. Instead, he received an unspeakable task from the Heavenly Emperor, finished the job, got no reward, and still had to walk on eggshells with his tail between his legs as an immortal, fearing one slip of the tongue would cost his life.
When Star Lord Du Heng received the summons from the Heavenly Emperor, he was in his own courtyard watering flowers. The watering pot promptly dropped on his foot. He went, but with a mournful face. Before leaving, he bid farewell to each of his beloved flowers, putting on a perfect act as if heading to a deadly banquet.
The Curtain-Raising General who delivered the summons watched this, finding it quite ridiculous.
No wall is completely impermeable to the wind. The Heavenly Emperor’s fondness for summoning these minor Star Lords was no secret. Any Star Lord who could ascend to heaven and become an immortal would not be bad-looking. Even those who started out plain, after undergoing purification and the nourishment of the Heavenly Court, became more handsome than the last. Although Curtain-Raising General was still a young man, having only ascended for about a thousand years, that didn’t mean those ageless immortals weren’t gossiping in secret. Somehow, a rumor had spread through the Heavenly Court that this Heavenly Emperor… was… ah, well, that way!
On the road, Star Lord Du Heng quietly spoke to the Curtain-Raising General about it.
The Curtain-Raising General scratched his ear, a bit confused. “What way?”
Du Heng stomped his foot, glancing sideways at him. “That way! You don’t know? The thing mortals often talk about.”
As he spoke, sorrow overwhelmed him. He wiped his nose on the Curtain-Raising General’s rigid armor.
Curtain-Raising General: “…”
He discreetly moved a few steps away.
I think you’re the one who’s that way!
The Curtain-Raising General walked faster and faster. Star Lord Du Heng hurried after him, and soon the palace where the Heavenly Emperor lived came into view. The Curtain-Raising General half-pushed the grief-stricken Star Lord Du Heng inside, then quietly withdrew.
“Star Lord Du Heng, ascended ten thousand years ago, has been residing in the Hundred Flowers Valley tending to the flora, living in seclusion.” The Heavenly Emperor sat behind his desk, a jade thumb ring on his finger tapping the table sporadically. He said indifferently, “Meaning, you have no attachments?”
Du Heng’s heart lurched. He fell to his knees with a thud, tears and snot streaming. “Your humble… humble servant… does have attachments! I have so many flowers and plants in my courtyard that need care! They need a master with a healthy body and mind to make their full contribution to the Heavenly Court!”
“Oh,” said the Heavenly Emperor.
Du Heng: “?”
“In that case, I have a task to give you. If you botch it up, neither you nor your flowers and plants will keep your lives.” The handsome-faced Heavenly Emperor said coldly. “Furthermore, you must keep this matter secret from everyone, including me.”
“Huh?”
“Meaning, once this task is passed down, it has nothing to do with me.”
This Star Lord Du Heng had been an honest official in the Mortal Realm, who outwitted all manner of corrupt officials and thrived like a fish in water. He was always quick on the uptake. Playing dumb here certainly wouldn’t work; it was better to agree to the task. After all, he hadn’t heard of the dozens of previous Star Lords meeting any fatal harm—as long as he kept his mouth shut.
His eyelids drooped slightly, as if he had suddenly become a different person. He said softly, “This servant awaits Your Majesty’s command.”
“I want you to go to Kunlun Mountain.”
Billions of years ago, the great god Pangu split heaven and earth with a single axe. His two eyes became the sun and moon. His body became fertile plains and rivers for future beings to live on. And his heart settled in a corner of the world, nurturing his proudest creation—the Myriad Mountains of Kunlun.
Pangu the Great God then closed his eyes, smiling.
The pure qi of the world rose. After tens of thousands of years of evolution, it finally coalesced into a spirit at the peak of Kunlun Mountain, named the Kunlun Mountain Saint. Meanwhile, the turbid qi sank. Deep within the Myriad Demon Grotto, tens of thousands of feet below Kunlun Mountain, a peerless Great Demon was simultaneously born—the very one subdued by the assembled immortals of the Heavenly Court forty thousand years ago.
So much time has passed that no one knows the details of that great war anymore. They only know that long ago there was such a formidable demon, and luckily, she is dead now.
As for the Mountain Saint up on Kunlun, she was even more mysterious, in comparison. She is alive, but no one has ever seen her. It is said that even the current Heavenly Emperor must call her Aunt. When the Heavenly Emperor’s mother, Lady Nuwa, and father, Lord Fuxi, were still just babbling children playing in the mud, she was already the Mountain Saint.
Some old immortals also say that before that great war forty thousand years ago, they once saw the Mountain Saint.
But that was forty thousand years ago, after all. The immortals of the Heavenly Court have been replaced like leeks, crop after crop. Although our Star Lord Du Heng had only ascended ten thousand years ago, he wasn’t exactly a newcomer, yet he had never heard a single detail about the Mountain Saint. As he steered his cloud towards Kunlun Mountain, his heart felt like it was filled with fifteen buckets of water—seven going up, eight going down, a complete state of anxiety. The Heavenly Emperor’s order was for him to “scout” Kunlun Mountain, meaning he had to be quiet. Even if discovered, he had to pretend he had accidentally wandered in.
But tell me, with such a huge Buddha sitting there, wouldn’t she know if you entered?
Star Lord Du Heng let out a long sigh. Ah, it was worrying him to death.
Halfway up the main peak of Kunlun Mountain.
A stream twisted down from the river valley. The clear water reflected a plump, small face, giggling as it made funny expressions at its reflection. Two soft, white little hands scrabbled in the mud by the stream, dirtying themselves and everything around them. It was a baby girl, not yet a full year old. She wore a pink lotus bellyband that just barely covered her two tiny spots, but her round bottom was completely exposed, swaying back and forth as she lay on the bank.
She looked exactly like a mortal infant, except she had a pair of pointed, furry canine ears, which were incredibly cute.
“Yiyi…” Curiously, she poked a finger at the water’s surface. Ripples spread out in circles from her fingertip.
The baby girl was thrilled. She curled herself into a ball and rolled straight into the water. “Yiyi!”
Almost at the exact moment she hit the water, a faint golden halo shimmered around her, enveloping her. Not a single drop of water managed to touch her.
“Yi…” She poked the light bubble again, discovering that its shape changed with her movements. If she wanted to stretch her limbs, the bubble would expand along the curve of her body. The baby girl had clearly found a new amusement and began rolling ecstatically on the water’s surface.
“Yiyiyi!”
She floated further and further downstream. The stream became wider and the current faster. Further down was the territory of river demons. But how could a little baby care about river demons or anything else? The only thing that mattered in the world was her own happiness.
“Boom…”
A massive wave surged up, and a white dragon shot out from the water. Accompanied by a deep, resonant dragon roar, the baby was caught in the white dragon’s mouth. However, as soon as the white dragon clearly identified the baby’s aura, it immediately transformed into human form—a tall, broad young man. He placed the baby girl on the grassy bank, fell to both knees, and laid himself prostrate on the ground in submission.
A wind seemed to come from afar. The grass and trees in the forest parted to make way, as if the very air had become humble. It was then that Kunlun walked out from the forest, wearing an utterly simple cyan long robe with wide sleeves. Her long hair, like a black waterfall, was tied up. Her eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth—all were impossible to see clearly.
Soft, light flower petals fell and blanketed the ground at her feet.
Kunlun walked to the shore, crouched down, and extended a single finger towards the child. A smile seemed to play at the corner of her lips as she said gently, “Chuci, come.”
The nursing baby first bit down on her finger, then climbed into her wide sleeve. She grinned, nestled inside, and fell asleep.
Kunlun turned her head, watching her for a long while, as if lost in thought. She gathered her sleeve, securely cradling the child in her arms. Then she lifted her gaze, looking into the distance at a small, furtive cloud sneaking around the edge of the sky.
